Random
One possible reason that the Revolutionary-era poets used the iambic meter was to imitate what style?
Classical
What is a couplet?
a pair of rhyming lines
In what way did literature from the American Revolution differ from the religious writtings from the Puratins?
They use sound, logical arguments in their writing.
What is figurative language?
nonliteral language that helps readers imagine a description, adding clarity and meaning to the text
Imagery in poetry mostly influences which of these poetic elements?
Mood
genre
a classification of literature characterized by particular content and form
In this excerpt from "The First Snowfall" by James Russell Lowell, which lines contain figurative language?
The snow had begun in the gloaming,
And busily all the night
Had been heaping field and highway
With a silence deep and white.
Every pine and fir and hemlock
Wore ermine too dear for an earl,
And the poorest twig on the elm-tree
Was ridged inch deep with pearl.
From sheds new-roofed with Carrara
Came Chanticleer's muffled crow,
The stiff rails softened to swan's-down,
And still fluttered down the snow.
I stood and watched by the window
The noiseless work of the sky,
And the sudden flurries of snowbirds,
Like brown leaves whirling by.
And busily all the night
With a silence deep and white
Wore ermine too dear for an earl
Was ridged inch deep with pearl
From sheds new-roofed with Carrara
The stiff rails softened to swan's-down
The noiseless work of the sky
Like brown leaves whirling by.
a metric unit of poetic verse containing an unaccented syllable followed by an accented syllable
iamb
Dear bard, I pray you, take the hint,
In England what you write and print,
Republished here in shop, or stall,
Will perfectly enchant us all:
It will assume a different face,
And post your name at every place,
From splendid domes of first degree
Where ladies meet, to sip their tea;
From marble halls, where lawyers plead,
Or Congress-men talk loud, indeed,
To huts, where evening clubs appear,
And 'squires resort—to guzzle beer.
What element of poetyry is used most here?
Imagery
descriptive language that relies on sensory details to help readers imagine the setting, characters, and details of a story or poem
Imagery
In this line from Thomas Paine's Rights of Man, what element denotes that it is from the Revolutionary era?
There exists in man a mass of sense lying in a dormant state, and which, unless something excites it to action, will descend with him, in that condition, to the grave.
C. the persuasion toward action
language that expresses the primary meanings of words rather than their implied or metaphorical meanings
Literal language
In this excerpt from Phillip Freneau's poem “American Liberty,” the speaker describes being “slaves and minions to a parliament.” What is the intended meaning of this hyperbole?
And should we now when spread thro' ev'ry shore,
Submit to that our fathers shunn'd before?
Should we, just heaven, our blood and labour spent,
be slaves and minions to a parliament?
Perish the thought, nor may one wretch remain,
Who dares not fight and in our cause be slain;
C. The speaker thinks that the colonists are being unfairly treated by the British government.
recurring patterns of stressed and unstressed syllables in a poem; the beat or rhythm of a poem
Meter
Read the adapted excerpt from the poem “On Imagination” by Phillis Wheatley.
Imagination! who can sing thy force?
Or who describe the swiftness of thy course?
Soaring through air to find the bright abode,
Th' empyreal palace of the thund'ring mode,
We on thy pinions can surpass the wind,
And leave the rolling universe behind:
From star to star the mental optics rove,
Measure the skies, and range the realms above.
There in one view we grasp the mighty whole,
Or with new worlds amaze th' unbounded soul.
What does the speaker compare imagination to in the poem?
A. a soaring bird
the prevailing feeling or emotion of a literary work; also called atmosphere
Mood